Families forced from their homes in western Yemen are struggling to find shelter, afford food and reach medical care. For people displaced before, renewed fighting means starting that search again, often with few belongings left to bring.
More than 300,000 people have fled amid the escalation, almost all in the preceding two months, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) release reported on 1 November. The immediate needs are basic: somewhere to stay, clean water, enough to eat and treatment when someone falls ill.
In Ta’iz, disrupted supply routes have made those necessities harder to obtain. Reports of the release say essential goods cost three to five times as much as before the fighting cut off surrounding areas. Families leaving the governorate have continued south towards Aden, which was hosting more than 56,000 displaced people.
Mobile medical teams are providing care in Ma’rib, Lahj, Aden and Ta’iz, including maternal health services and nutrition checks. The response also includes emergency shelter, clean water and cash assistance. But restricted access and limited funding are making it harder to keep pace with families’ needs.
The agency is seeking US$45 million for the next six months to sustain shelter, cash support, health care, water, sanitation and protection services. It has called on all parties to protect civilians and aid workers and allow assistance to reach people safely, especially in hard-to-reach parts of Ta’iz.
Displacement figures in context — data through 31 October 2026:
IOM recorded 300,391 people in 50,059 households displaced cumulatively since June. Its separate 1 August–31 October series was 299,335 people in 49,883 households. These overlapping source-defined scopes are not added together. The dataset recorded 56,934 people hosted in Aden; this is part of the displacement picture, not an additional national total.
Subsequent UN reporting — 3 November 2026:
All roads into Ta’iz city were closed and aid deliveries were being obstructed, according to the UN's 3 November briefing. Hospitals faced shortages of fuel, oxygen and medical supplies. The briefing reported more than 22,500 suspected measles cases and nearly 130 deaths; children under five accounted for four out of five deaths. These national health observations have a different scope from the displacement dataset. The UN's 2 November briefing separately reported 70 UN personnel still detained.
Earlier verified reporting — retain each source's original date and scope:
As of 24 October 2026, IOM Yemen’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) recorded 276,301 internally displaced people (46,044 households) cumulatively since the escalation began in June. Of that total, 275,245 people (45,868 households) were displaced between 1 August and 24 October. These overlapping source-defined scopes are not added together.
IOM previously reported that more than 184,000 people were displaced between 1 August and 4 October 2026 as fighting intensified in Yemen. Its Displacement Tracking Matrix recorded 21,798 people, or 3,633 households, displaced at least once between 27 September and 3 October, a 26 per cent increase on the previous week, followed by another 6,474 people, or 1,079 households, displaced on 4 October alone. These reporting-period figures are not added to the broader more-than-184,000 observation.
The preceding IOM DTM update 12 reported a cumulative 152,856 people, or 25,476 households, displaced across seven governorates since the escalation began in June 2026. Within that earlier series, approximately 151,794 people, or 25,299 households, were displaced between 1 August and 29 September. The 22 September IOM DTM snapshot recorded 132,330 people, or 22,055 households, displaced cumulatively since June. All remain in the evidence history as dated observations.
The earlier IRC report documented more than 80,000 people displaced after fighting escalated between Ansar Allah and the Internationally Recognized Government in early September 2026. The latest movement followed the fall of the strategic port city of Al Mokha, with many families forced to flee for the second time in a matter of weeks. Families arriving in host communities reported leaving belongings, livestock and livelihoods behind. Women, children and people with disabilities face heightened protection risks as access to essential services is disrupted.
Schools are being converted into emergency shelters as the new school year begins, suspending children's education without a clear timeline for reopening. The IRC called on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, allow safe and timely humanitarian access, and on donors to sustain and urgently increase emergency funding.
The IRC is expanding cash assistance for displaced families in Aden and deploying mobile health teams across Aden, Lahj, Al Dhale'e and Abyan. Existing health, nutrition and protection services continue in Abyan, Al Dhale'e, Lahj and Shabwah, although access constraints limit the response. IOM said all newly displaced families need food, shelter and other basic assistance; a rapid protection assessment in three Ma'rib sites found unsafe shelter was the most critical vulnerability and that about 45 per cent of assessed households had been displaced before.
On 2 October, WFP reported that renewed fighting had displaced more than 149,000 people, attributing the figure to IOM and noting that many had already experienced conflict-related displacement. This WFP-reported, IOM-attributed observation remains a separate series because WFP's release does not define its full geographic or time scope or link the underlying IOM DTM table. It is not arithmetically reconciled with IOM DTM updates or the new IOM observation and must not be read as 149,000 unique newly displaced people.
WHO's Eastern Mediterranean office reported on 4 October that the escalation had caused 5,166 casualties, including 959 deaths, since 6 August. It recorded 685 new casualties during the preceding six days and said daily casualties in Taiz rose from eight to 109 within the week. WHO's casualty series is retained separately from IOM's displacement observations; no injury count is inferred by subtracting deaths from total casualties.
International Medical Corps’ 8 October Situation Report #4 records a separate displacement series: 197,906 people from 29,519 families across 10 governorates since the escalation began, about a 10 per cent increase from its previous report. This IMC-reported observation is retained separately from the IOM DTM cumulative figure of 201,217 people / 33,535 households as of 6 October; the series have different source definitions and are not added, reconciled or substituted for one another.
IOM DTM Update 15, published 21 October 2026 and covering data through 20 October, recorded 259,807 people (43,295 households) displaced cumulatively since the escalation began in June. Its separate 1 August–20 October reporting-period figure was 258,751 people (43,119 households). These are retained as dated earlier observations; neither is added to the current 24 October totals. The earlier 13 October observation of 228,739 people (38,122 households) remains preserved as a dated snapshot.
Data as of 03 Nov 2026 Yemen
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